Truck crane



.Iuhe 19, 1951 H, A NER ETAL 2,557,484

TRUCK CRANE Filed Jan. 17, 1947 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS HAROLD A.WAGNER GUSTAVE. H. WAGNER avg June19, 1951 H. A. WAGNER ETAL 2,557,484 ITRUCK CRANE Filed Jan. 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IINVENTORS HAROLD A.WAGNER GUSTAVE. H. WAGNER Patented June 19, 1951 TRUCK CRANE Harold A.Wagner and Gustave H. Wagner, Portland, Oreg.

Application January 17, 1947, Serial No. 722,514

2 Claims.

Our present invention relates to a mobile hoisting unit comprising aself-propelled vehicle having a boom crane mounted thereon.

An object of the present invention is to. provide a hoisting devicewhichmay be moved from place to place and may be utilized to transport aheavy object. from place to place.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobile cranewhich may be utilized in a stationary position to move objects about andwhich may be braced against tipping by outriggers carried by thevehicle.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a mobilehoisting crane in which a crane post is mounted at one end of thevehicle and the greater mass of the vehicle, including the engine forpropelling it, is adjacent the opposite end so that the massv of thevehicle acts as a counterbalance for the crane.

A further object of the. present invention is to provide a mobile cranewith a platform upon which objects lifted by the crane may be restedwhile the vehicle is moving about, the platform being close to theground and close to the mast or post of the crane so that the vehiclewill not tend to tip, and in which the platform is counterbalanced bythe greater mass. of the vehicle.

A further object of the present. invention is to provide a new andimproved mast construction for a boom crane, the mast comprising a,hollow tube adapted to be rotated to swing the boom and through whichpass the boom controlling cable and the lifting cable.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a boom cranehaving mast rotating means thereon with means to limit the rotation ofthe crane to substantially 360 degrees so that the crane will not rotategreater than one complete revolution.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the present inventionwill be more readily apparent from an inspection of the accompanyingdrawings taken in connection with the following specification whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout.

In the drawings Fig. l is a view in perspective of a vehicle embodyingthe present invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial vertical section with parts broken away through aportion of the vehicle to illustrate lateral extensible. Outriggers;

Fig. 3 is a partial vertical section to illustrate the front outriggeror platform;

Fig. 4 is a partial vertical section on an enlarged scale taken throughthe center of the post; and

Fig. 5 is a partial horizontal section taken substantially along line 55of Fig. 4 and looking "m the direction of the arrows- The automotivevehicle herein illustrated comprises a body it having two sets offorward wheels I I which are mounted upon an axle and adapted to bedriven by means of an engine mounted within the body II]. A single rearwheel I2 is provided so as to form a tricycle vehicle, the rear wheel I2 being so mounted as to be shiftable by a tiller bar I3 so that thevehicle may be driven from place to place. Details of the enginemounting and the method of connecting the engine to the driving wheelsare unnecessary for an understanding of the present invention as suchdetails may assume many well known forms. It is preferred, however, thatthe greater mass of the vehicle and engine be located as closelyadjacent the steering wheel I2 as possible.

At the forward end of the vehicle and close to the axle connecting thewheels II there is provided a housing I5 extending above the deck I6 ofthe vehicle. At or near the longitudinal center line of the vehicle andclose. to a point above the axle connecting the wheels II, and withinthe wheelbase of the vehicle, there is mounted an upright crane post 20comprising. a section of heavy steel pipe or the like, the lower end ofwhich is machined and rests upon a collar 2| mounted upon the deck I6within the housing I5. The collar 2! extends upward within the lower endof the mast 20 to provide a bearing to prevent shifting of the butt ofthe mast and has a lateral flange forming a thrust bearing seat for thelower end of the mast. A shorter section 30 of heavy steel tubing oflesser external diameter than the internal diameter of the post 20extends through a hole in the deck I6 and is welded to the lower surfacethereof beneath the collar 2|. The tube 30 extends upward Within thetube 20 and is provided with a. bearing collar 3I at its upper edge toprevent sideward tipping of the mast 26. A large gear 40 is affixed tothe lower end of the mast 2i] and extends in a horizontal planetherefrom within the housing I5. The gear 40 meshes with a gear 41mounted upon the upper end of a vertical shaft 42 which is journaled ina bearing sleeve 43 mounted in a bracket 44 affixed tov the uppersurface of the deck I6 within the housing 15. The shaft 42 is suitablyconnected to the engine of the vehicle by any convenient means includinga clutch (not shown), the details thereof not being herein illustratedas they may vary and assume many well known forms. The clutch is adaptedto be engaged or disengaged by a lever 45 extending through the deck ISso that the gear 40 and the mast 28 attached thereto may be rotated atwill when the clutch lever 45 causes the clutch to be engaged.

Substantially midway of the vertical height of the mast 29 there isprovided a pair of plates 59 supporting a transverse pivotmember H whichpasses through the lower end of a crane boom 52. At the outer end of theboom 52v there is mounted a pair of spaced plates 53 supporting a pivotpin 54 upon which is mounted a pulley 55. A pair of spaced arms 56extend rearwardly from the pin 54 and support a pivot member 51 whichcarries a pulley 58. The upper end of the mast 28 supports a spaced pairof bracket plates 68 which extend forward above the plates 58 and mounta transverse pin 6| about which is fastened the end of a boom raisingcable 62. The cable 52 passes about the pulley 58 and then about apulley 63 mounted upon a pin 84 journaled in spaced brackets 65 at thetop of the mast 28. The cable 62 then passes vertically downward throughthe mast 28 and the tube 38 to a drum 61 mounted upon a transverse shaft68 within the body of the vehicle. The shaft 68 is rotated by means of asprocket gear 69 and sprocket chain I8 passing thereabout and extendingto suitable means for driving the sprocket chain. Such means for drivingthe sprocket chain are not illustrated as the same may assume manydifferent forms. A lever TI extends through the deck plate I6 adjacentthe lever 45 and is preferably adapted to assume two positions, in oneposition engaging a clutch for driving the chain I8 and in anotherposition engaging a brake to prevent the chain from moving. Such amechanism may be of the type illustrated and claimed in our co-pendingapplication Serial No. 613,142, filed August 28, 1945, and issued March2, 1950, as Patent No. 2,501,198, or any reasonable equivalent thereof.

A hoisting cable 88 passes about the pulley 55 and a pulley 8| mountedalongside of pulley 63 on the pin 64, and then descends through thehollow mast and the hollow tube 38. The lower end of the cable 88 isfastened about a drum device 82 mounted upon a transverse shaft 83adjacent the shaft 68. by a sprocket gear 84 affixed thereto and drivenby a sprocket chain 85.

A third clutch lever 86 extends through the deck plate It adjacent theclutch lever II and is suitably connected to the means for driving thechain 85. Preferably such means comprises a clutch and a brake and thelever is adapted to engage the clutch to lift a weight by means of thecable 88 and to disengage the clutch and engage a brake to hold theweight at its elevated position, such means being preferably of the typedisclosed and claimed in our co-pending application Serial No. 613,142,filed August 28, 1945, and issued March 2, 1950, as Patent No.2,501,198, as mentioned above.

We thus have provided means whereby the engine for propelling theautomotive vehicle may be connected at will to means for raising orlowering the boom, or to means for raising or lowering a weight swungfrom the boom, or to means for rotating the mast and thus swinging theboom.

It is important that the mast 28 be restrained from rotating throughmore than approximately 360 degrees, otherwise the cables 62 and 88would be wrapped about each other and prevented from moving. To achievethis object we provide a trip device comprising a cable 98 which isfastened at one end to a bracket 9| extending upward from the deck plateI6 between the periphery of the gear 48 and the vertical wall of thehousing I5. The cable 98 extends horizontally above the upper surface ofthe gear 48 and passes about a pulley 92 mounted on a pin 93 journaledin a bracket 94 extending upward from the deck plate I6 at a transversepoint between the periphery of the The shaft as is rotated gear 48 andthe vertical wall of the housing I5. The cable then passes downwardthrough an opening 95 in the deck I6 and about a guide pul ley 96suitably mounted beneath the deck plate I6 so that the cable 98 mayextend rearwardly longitudinally of the machine. The rear end of thecable 98 is fastened to a bracket 91 connected to an intermediate pointof the lever which is pivoted at point 98. The lever 45 is so arrangedthat upon rearward movement thereof by the operator the clutchcontrolled thereby will be engaged to rotate the shaft 42 and hencerotate the mast 28. Suitable reversing means are preferably provided sothat the operator may at will rotate the mast 28 in either direction. Inorder to prevent the mast from rotating beyond a complete circle meansare provided to disengage the clutch as the gear 48 approaches the endof a complete revolution, such means comprising a cam I88 affixed to theupper surface of the gear 48 and having an overhanging flange I8Iadapted to prevent the cable 98 from slipping off of the cam. Thetension of cable 98 is so adjusted that upon the cam I8 approaching aplane passing through the center line of the gear 4| and of the mast 28from either direction the cable 98 will be drawn taut to pull forward onthe clutch lever 45 and disengage the means driving the shaft 42.

When the vehicle is in use as a stationary crane device it might bedesired to lift a weight and swing the weight from one side to another,such weight being greater than could be handled by the crane when theboom is substantially horizontal without overturning the vehicle. Inorder to guard against this We provide outrigger bars in the form of apair of H-bars I and I86 mounted side by side in a hollow housing I81affixed to the bottom of the vehicle, the bars being easily slidabletransversely of the vehicle and retained therein by pins I88 and I89,one at each side of the vehicle, adapted to engage notches III and H2respectively in the flanges of the H-bars to hold the outrigger membersin desired position. When they are extended the ends thereof may berested upon blocks, stones or the like to prevent sideward tipping ofthe vehicle.

At the forward end of the vehicle and between the fender portions I28extending about the forward edges of the wheels II there is provided aniche formed by the inner surface of the fenders, a vertical plate I2Iextending downward from the deck I6 and a horizontal ledge I22 extendingbetween the inner walls of the fenders I28 at their lower edges. Aplatform I23 is hinged at I24 close to the inner edge of the ledge I22and is adapted to be retained in a substantially vertical position by alatch membe -I25 slidable in a bracket I26 mounted on a platform into aretaining hole I2! on the inner surface of one of the fenders. When theplatform is in this vertical position, as seen in Fig. 1, a ledge isthus provided upon which a person may stand while the vehicle is beingmoved about. It may be desired to augment the counterbalance effect ofthe mass of the vehicle when lifting a heavy object and the boom isretained in a position extending forwardly of the vehicle, in which casethe platform I23 may be swung forward to a lower horizontal position, asillustrated in Fig. 3, being braced in that position by a pair of togglearms I38 and I3I pivoted to the fender and to the platform respectivelyand to each other at point I32. The arm I38 carries a limiting bracketI33 adapted to engage the arm I3I as soon as the pivot member I32 haspassed beyond a center position so as to prevent upward movement of theplatform. The outer end of the platform ma be blocked up as shown inFig. 3 to prevent the vehicle from tipping forward.

The platform I23 may be left in its horizontal position as the vehiclemoves about to provide a larger space for a person to ride upon or toprovide a platform upon which a heavy object may be rested, the weightthereof being partially supported by the platform and partially by thecable 80 and the crane. The fenders 120 will aid to retain the object inits position which is closely adjacent the ground and closely adjacentthe crane mast so that a very large weight may be thus transported.

Having illustrated and described a preferred form of our invention itshould be apparent to those skilled in the art that the inventionpermits of modification in arrangement and detail. We claim as ourinvention all such modifications as come within the true spirit andscope of the appending claims.

We claim:

1. A mobile hoisting unit comprising a selfpropelled wheeled vehicle, acrane including a post mounted on the vehicle, a, gear afiixed to thebutt end of said post, gear means for rotating said ear and post, andmeans including a trip cable and a cam mounted on said gear in positionto contact and tension said trip cable for preventing rotation of saidgear and post beyond a limit in either direction of rotation.

2. In a crane unit including operating cables, a hollow post throughwhich said cables pass, gears for rotating said post, means including aclutch lever for connecting said gears to a source of power, and a tripdevice for preventing rotation of said post beyond a certain limit ineither direction of rotation comprising a cable attached to said clutchlever and cable tensioning means for tensioning said cable as said postapproaches a desired limit of rotation whereby said clutch lever isshifted to clutch disengaging position. HAROLD A. WAGNER. GUSTAVE H.WAGNER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 402,378 Wuerpel Apr. 30, 1889496,428 Morgan May 2, 1893 545,589 Kilgore Sept. 3, 1895 873,076 Olsenet al. Dec. 10, 1907 1,008,338 Holt Nov. 14, 1911 1,337,400 Garson Apr.20, 1920 1,353,697 Adams Sept. 21, 1920 1,412,525 Howlett Apr. 11, 19221,492,223 Rybeck Apr. 29, 1924 1,782,406 Bureau Nov. 25, 1930 1,917,053Nelson et a1. July 4, 1933 2,387,087 Nelson Oct. 16, 1945 2,461,401Trombley Feb. 8, 1949

